There’s an amazing savory smell coming from the kitchen and giving your nose a treat. Pasta sauce, rich, fragrant, and delicious is slowly cooking. Combined with your favorite spaghetti and perfectly ground parmesan, your senses feel a happy dance coming on. You’ve been smelling that sauce all day and there’s only one thing you have to remember before you head to the dinner table. Change your shirt! That white shirt will never make it through the meal. You know from experience that one tiny spot of red sauce will appear out of nowhere. You don’t know how it happens, but there it is. One spot, one clear message that you lost control somewhere along the way. Changing your shirt is a small price to pay.
As a slang word, we actually use spaghetti to talk about an embarrassing act, called “dropping” the spaghetti. It can also point out a general moment of awkwardness or foolishness, or a faux pas. So, what does all this have to do with you and your life? It may simply serve as a visual reminder that even when you make a mess, or get into a difficult situation, God already has your back. He’s got you in His hands and He started talking about the importance of this way back in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah wrote about our spots and blemishes in his early chapters. It reminds us that we always have to be on the lookout for things that might spot our character or show up in bright red stains that can never be washed away. It seems that those awkward and embarrassing things we do, because foolishness happens to everyone, mean that we simply can’t avoid a spot or two. We need to know that when we make a mess of things, there’s some kind of damage control. After all, we want to get back to clean and bright, shiny and new.
We are grateful for Isaiah’s words, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” In those words, he’s letting us know that God has an answer for each faux pas in life. He wants us to turn to Him any time we recognize a spot, or a stain has happened. When we ask for His help, He shows us kindness and love. He cleans us up so we can try again and maybe even be more careful the next time.
A spaghetti moment may taint you for a bit, but it won’t last long. Forgiveness comes with the perfect spot remover.
So, maybe try wearing a red shirt on spaghetti night, or blue, or green?